Frank:Frankenstein ReInvented
by delenaforewood
Summary: This is a story I am doing for a school assignment. Title pretty much says it all. Please RR
1. Introduction

Introduction

This is the story of Frankenstein but in a modernized and condensed version. This is an assignment for my Freshman English class where we have to make a project to show that we understood the book in some creative way. I choose to do a fanfiction because I obviously have written other stories before and enjoy doing so. This will not follow the exact lines of the original story and I may be adding an OC or two if need be. Hopefully this goes well because I have not written something like this before and in this short of a time frame. So without further a do I present Frank: Frankenstein Re-invented.


	2. Chapter One: Letters

Chapter One: Letters

To: Maggie_

Subject: The Hunt is ON

Sent: June 12th, 2012

Mags,

Well I made it out to Montana in one piece. Knowing that you have probably been worrying non stop since I departed two days ago I decided the first thing I would do once I had internet again was send you this email. I know you think I'm crazy but he is out there. Bigfoot is out there and I am going to find him. I know I have said that a thousand times and you are probably rolling your eyes as this reaches you on your Blackberry. Doubt me if you will but I have an entire crew of people behind me and if he is anywhere within a hundred miles of my base camp in the Bitteroot National Forest. Right now I am in Missoula at an internet cafe. I will be leaving here and heading to my aforementioned base camp within the next week or so it all depends on when I can have all my gear here and ready. I am living out my childhood fantasy and finally all my research is paying off. It is so beautiful here Maggie I wish you could see it! So many trees and the sky is so big! This is so different from Arizona its almost unreal.

My guide knows what he is doing so no need to fear me getting eaten by a bear so something. I know you are wondering how a boy from the valley of the sun has an obsession with Bigfoot, a creature that lives in the great white north. I really can't explain it. After that story on the news a month ago about there being multiple sightings in Montana I just had to get out here and see for myself.

Since the last time I wrote you I have been doing some training and conditioning for my expedition. I am the star student in the local survival class but you really shouldn't be surprised because you know how I get when I set my mind to something. That's where I meet my guide and my crew. They are a local group of college students looking for something exciting to do so I talked them into coming with me and filming our experiences for their film class.

As I said before I am planning to leave for my base camp within a week so I will probably will be able to get one or two more emails out before I set off on my wild adventure. I love you Maggie and try not to worry to much about me. I will hopefully see you by then end of summer but you never know I might get eaten by a mountain lion and you will never hear from me again! I'm kidding of course but still. Alright I bet you have had enough of my mad ravings so I'm signing off now.

Bobby Walton, your brother.

To: Maggie_

Subject: Loneliness

Sent: June 21st 2012

Mags,

Well I bet you are shocked you are hearing from me right now. You thought I would be trekking through the woods with a camera crew in tow and raving like a lunatic about how "that mark on that tree could be a territory marker for Bigfoot". And that is exactly what I have been doing for the past three days. But one of my crew members had a run in with some poison ivy so we had to high tail it to the rangers' station that is about four miles from my base camp. And while he was being treated I asked if I could used their computer to send my dear sister an email.

As you may have guessed I am not really relating well to my comrades. As you know my love of all things Bigfoot and scifi can be a little hard to stomach at times for those who aren't true believers like myself. Truth be told Mags, I like these kids but I need someone who understands what its like to be completely invested in the hunt or something of a similar nature. I miss my online support group out here and I really wish they were out here with me instead of these amateur film students from the local community college. I need a friend Mags surely you of all people understand that. Although these kids don't make terrible conversationalists I want someone to be able to keep up wit me intellectually. I mean I am one of the top experts on Bigfoot in the nation and teach an online course they barely graduated high school and looking at careers in the food service industry. That is my one wish for this expedition besides the obvious, a friend to come and join me. That's all for now Mr. Poison Ivy has is ointment and is ready to rock again. I don't know if I will be able to get to write again unless something happens to one of my charges again. Love you Maggie and think of me with love if you are never to hear from me again if some sort of tragic incident were to take my life.

Bobby Walton, your annoyingly brilliant older brother

To: Maggie_

Subject: SURPRISE

Sent: July 25th 2012

Mags,

Well even I didn't think I would have the chance to write to you again. You will be relieved to know that I have sustained little bodily harm and no permanent damage since the last time that I wrote you. But I do have a very strange story that to tell you that I couldn't just keep to myself. And seeing as that you are the only person outside of my career that I talk to on a regular basis you get to hear it. Let me warn you right off that this story isn't one of my brilliant works of fiction, it is completely true. But for you to understand this story I have to give you a recap of the past couple days out here in the big sky state. Things have been down right weird. And I'm not talking my brand of strange. I'm talking like out of a book by Stephen King odd and somewhat frightening.

We were doing a routine grid sweep that we do everyday from nine in the morning until lunch. It was still a little foggy as the camera crew and I were making our way toward the first boundary marker and for the obvious reasons, we were having trouble seeing where we were heading even with flashlights and the camera lighting equipment. So we are stumbling though the thick underbrush when we heard some sticks breaking close to us. I reacted just the way the way you would expect and dragged the crew toward the sound. As we approached the thick blanket of leaves that carpets the floor were crunching as though something or someone extremely large were walking on them. I only caught a glimpse of the thing that was making the noise but let me tell you that was all I ever want to see. It towered over my six foot three inches at least a good two feet. It had long wild hair that went down to its shoulders and looked as though it had never cut or brushed it. While it walked on two legs it had a very animal like quality to it's movements and mannerisms. I honestly don't know how to define it and I am a registered expert on weird and the supernatural. No where in all of my studies of creatures that aren't suppose to exist have I ever come across something that comes close to what I saw that morning. To be completely honest it has me spooked and that is not an easy thing to do considering my field of expertise. But that is only the beginning of this tale.

Not even two hours after the brief encounter with "the Thing" (I didn't come up with the name but it is quite fitting for the situation.) We ran into something a little more human, a man trekking through the woods with nothing more than a small backpack. Now as you well know I am in the middle of nowhere literally. The closest building to me is a good four miles away from base camp and it is little more than a shack. The poor guy looked like he hadn't slept in days and was sickly pale and weak looking on top of it. One of the students yelled out to him and he collapsed on the spot. We ran over and he was breathing but very very shallowly. One of the guy s picked him up ( he couldn't have weighed more than a hundred ten pounds) and we rushed back to base camp where we at least had limited medical supplies.

We made it back to camp and he still hadn't come around. I was beginning to worry a little more now that he had been out for a good half hour. I sent one of the girls to get the first aid bin from the common tent and we began to try to get him to wake. We propped him up on one of the cots and I got some water thinking he may be dehydrated since we had no idea how long he had been stumbling through the woods. As I returned to the tent one of the students gave a shout that he was waking. I ran back to the tent just as he opened his eyes. He asked who were and where he was. So I told him my name and that I was a Bigfoot hunter here in Montana to track down the elusive monster. And he laughed and laughed which at the time made me think he was absolutely mad. He asked if he could stay here with us for a while and when I asked if he wanted to go to the ranger station he said there was nothing that they could do for him. He introduced himself as Victor Franks and immediately passed out again.

Over the next couple of days our visitor was still very weak and did not speak again. Even I could tell that the extent of his medical issues went beyond dehydration and exhaustion. I told the entire crew to leave him be but they had thousands of questions for the stranger that was staying with us. I too had questions but I thought it best to let him at least get some strength back before bombarding him with inquires about his past and how he ended up here in the middle of no where. I kept watch over him as much as I could but I still continued my search for Bigfoot. After three days of just sitting at his bed side he began to engage me in conversation. We learned a lot about each other over the next few days. We are both science fiction enthusiasts and enjoy learning and expanding our knowledge. He likes stories of mad scientists and creating something from nothing while I of course enjoy more monsters and aliens but we still relate on many levels. We are both outsiders in life, as far as I can tell he isn't one of those people that has a bazillion Facebook friends or Twitter followers. In fact I even doubt that he has a profile at all. He seemed like a tortured soul and I couldn't figure out why. He had interests that he really enjoyed as far as I could tell but at the same time it appeared to me that the same things that made him happiest had caused him to become this sickly and troubled man. And this made me even more confused. So I let it go for the time being and waited for him to approach me as a confidant.

By day seven of his visit we were on our way to being best friends. I got my wish Mags! Although we are getting closer everyday, he still doesn't talk very much about his past especially why he was in the woods. I hadn't flat out asked him about it at that point but I was preparing too. About a day later I finally figured out exactly how I was going to go about asking him. So I said:

"Victor? What brought you out here to Montana with such a lack of supplies? You could have died." He sat and thought for a moment before responding. It was though he was pondering the right wording to express whatever was troubling him.

"I was chasing the thing that has evaded me." His response was not what I was expecting.

"What do you mean? Why are you chasing this person though the woods? Don't you think that is a little crazy, especially since it's wearing you into the ground?"

"First of all you must understand that there is more to this story than me chasing something through the woods because I want to. To really understand why I have become this weak but determined person you need to know what I am pursuing is not something you have or hopefully ever encounter again. If you have the time I can tell you the full story, but I must warn you ahead of time that it will be very difficult for you to believe and you will assume that it is fiction. I assure you that it is not though I wish with all my heart that it was." And with that he began.


	3. Chapter 2: Childhood

Chapter Two: Childhood

I am originally a New Yorker and from a well off family of old money. My father was a successful in the stock business and was well respected in the higher circles of society. He married my mother later in his life because prior to meeting her his work was his everything. But my mother turned his world upside down. They met at a party on the Upper East side. She was twenty years his junior but sparks flew and their love was undeniable. One of the reasons that they were drawn to each other was my mother had just lost the last of her family when her father died of cancer and she had a void in her life that she needed to fill. My father on the other hand didn't even know that something was missing from his existence until he met her. They had a short courtship and a small wedding in the justice building. My mother at this time in her life was still very weak and recovering from her grief. My father decided that maybe it was best for them to move out of the city to a place that did not hold so many memories of her past. She needed a fresh start so they moved to Upstate New York for a change of scenery and pace of life.

But very quickly they decided that they want to make the most of their time as just a family of two and started to wandering all over the East Coast. The beauty and serenity of nature seemed to restore my mother to her former self. This person was totally new to my father, who had only known her post loss. He fell even more in love with the happy, free spirit she was becoming. They roamed freely and tried to experience as much as possible before they decided to start expanding their family.

I was born in Washington DC and quickly became their one great love besides each other. As soon as I was deemed old enough, they set off wandering again. I was the light of their lives and they gave me every bit love they had. One of my earliest memories of the time before I turned five was my mother and father laughing and singing while spinning me in circles, smashed between them. They did all that they could to make sure I was content and knew I was absolutely adored by both of them. My mother wanted a daughter and did not get her wish until I turned five.

We took in a young girl from the Charleston area who had lost all of her family in a tragic fire. She was a beautiful wisp of a thing with long dark hair and bright green eyes. Her name was Libby and from the moment I met her I knew that she was going to change my world. We moved back and settled in Upstate New York permanently. My father commuted to the city to work a couple of days per week , but worked mainly from home. Libby and I were a year apart and attended the same private school which allowed us to become fast friends in those first few years together. Our bond only grew as we aged. We never treated each other like siblings because our mother never looked at us that way. I was her son and Libby was meant to be part of my life as more than a sister or a friend. I learned as I grew that Libby was someone that I was supposed to protect and cherish and that was exactly how I treated her. She and I were meant to end up married one day and stay together forever.

You couldn't help but fall under Libby's spell. She had the kind of sweetness that is magnetic and draws you in. I have yet to meet a person that can find any fault in her character. She was a kind and gentle person. Out of the two of us she was the more logical and thoughtful one. I had a bit of a temper when I was younger but she was always very tolerant of my outbursts. I was also the one that was driven and had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

My brother was born two years after our return to New York. That was also the year I made my one and only friend. Henry was his name and he and I couldn't have been more different. He loved the theater and was always quoting Shakespeare and other writers he deemed romantic in nature. He honestly loved the idea of a love story. I on the other hand loved science and discovery above all of my other interests. Henry loved the beauty in the world, I loved the thought of creating my own beauty. Though we were a very odd pair we balanced each other and that was what made our friendship not only work, it was what made us strong. All through my youth we were inseparable. But eventually my passion for invention and the science behind it took his spot at number one on my ways to spend my free time.

My great love was science fiction. From as soon as I could read a chapter book and got a school library card, I was consuming every book the section had to offer. I didn't really enjoy the distopian society novels that some of the other kids were into. I liked the stories of bringing people back from the dead and genetically altercation to improve physical and mental abilities. As soon as a finished all of those books I began to study the topics in the non fiction section and library data bases. What little I came up with wasn't enough to satisfy my curiosity. I wanted to find people that had actually dappled in those yet unexplored areas of medicine and DNA. My father thought I was crazy and said those books were nothing more than a person with an over active imagination using the medium of writing as a creative outlet. But by my senior year around my eighteenth birthday he decided that he would fund my college career at John Hopkins in Maryland where I would begin the studies that would ultimately lead me to where I am now, a broken and borderline psychotic man.


	4. Chapter 3: Creation

Chapter 3: Creation

Part One

I arrived at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University in the middle of the second semester. I had been delayed getting to school because my mother had passed away the summer prior to what was supposed to be my first day of college. Her death hit Elizabeth hard especially because she had been the one that had to take her to the hospital when she first got sick and would sit by her bedside day in and day out. So I put my family before myself and waited to attend until the grieving process had progressed to a point where it was viable for me to be able to leave them knowing that not only that they were okay, but that I could handle the stress of the competitive environment of that prestigious university.

The campus was so different from my tiny town in New York. It was alive with activity and people were milling about in the common areas and laughing. There was an energy here unlike any I had yet to experienced. It was electrifying but did not compare to the feeling I felt when the whooshing sound of the frosted glass doors of the experimental science building slid open and the sterile smell of cleaning agents greeted my nose.

It was borderline intoxicating the rush of power I felt as I stepped cautiously into the lab for the first time. I knew from that very moment that I would learn and do great things in this place. I studied the position of all of the state of the art equipment that I had only read and dreamed about when a voice interrupted my fantasies of actually getting to use the devices that surrounded me.

"You must be Victor. The administrative office notified me that you would finally be arriving this week. It's good to see that you have handled the death of your mother quite well. I am very sorry about that by the way." I tried to interject a word but the man just kept rambling on so he decided it was best just to let him finish his train of thought. "Oh! Where are my manners I have been talking to you like we have at least met before! You have absolutely no clue who I am! Well I am Professor Krempe of the Anatomical and Biological Research department."

"Very nice to meet you Professor Krempe. I am really looking forward to your class in particular. I am very interested in the art of and science of growing tissues. I have read a lot about it and find it absolutely fascinating that they can actually build human skin that is compatible with the existing cells." To my great surprise the Professor laughed at my declaration.

"You seriously consider growing simple tissues an art? Wouldn't rather be searching for something productive like the cure to cancer? Tissues has already been achieved and there is no way that you would of all people, a freshman, would be able to develop a way to create organs or even something as simple as hair! Please try to reconsider your field of interest." I was positively shocked at Professor Krempe's lack of sensitivity to my feelings. I had nothing more to say to him so I simple walked out of the building without looking back. He had literally crushed me in a single conversation. I had been hoping that I could do the world a lot of good with my love of creating something from nothing. But apparently my interest in growing organs and finding more effective ways of growing tissues are under appreciated.

I spent the next few days getting settled in my new dorm and meeting my floor mates. They all seemed friendly enough but I was the only Biological Medical or any type of medical major among them. They consisted of Business and Fiance in addition to a couple of English and Visual Arts. Again I was the outsider and after meeting we rarely conversed beyond the weather and news headlines. I also began to explore the campus beyond the main compound and lecture halls. It was on one of my days of wandering that I found a notice that caught my eye:

Professor Waldon, head of the Bio-Medical Department will beholding a lecture concerning new developments in the lab growth of tissues and their implication as a new and up coming field of study. The lecture is to be held in lecture hall F at 4 pm on the 2nd of February.

That made my whole world bright again. My interest couldn't be useless if the head of the department was holding a full fledged lecture on it! I marked the date in my phone calender and set off for the library with a new found pep in my step. I had wanted to check out what little books the library had on the lab production of tissues and also wanted to read some medical journals and periodicals. I searched the online data base and found exactly what I needed. I spent the rest of my afternoon that day sitting in an over stuffed arm chair by the fire reading away.

Weeks to the lecture had passed rather quickly as I spent most of my free time online in my dorm researching even further into my favorite topic so I could ask some intelligent questions after Professor Waldon's lecture. I really wanted to spend some time with him one on one discussing my possibilities in the field. I really wanted my own research lab and with every article I read on the subject my need to experiment and hopefully pioneer my own trials grew stronger. By the time on that cold wet February day rolled around for me to go to the lecture hall I was completely obsessed with growing new skin, organs, and bones. I had gotten past the point of just reading the clinical study reports of the application of lab grown tissue, I began to get into the technical side of what was involved in actually doing it.

I took my seat in the center of the front row and I remember every detail of the room and the people in it. No one really seemed as excited about this as I was. I had already placed my laptop on the counter in front of me and was ready to begin my note taking. Professor Waldon stepped out on the platform and introduced himself to the crowd of fifty or so students. And he began.

By the end of the lecture I fell even more in love with this innovative new approach to saving people. The possibilities are endless when you can make everything you need for a person to survive in a lab. No more waiting on a donor list hoping that you will get the organ you will need before you die. Bone graphs will be a thing of the past because we could just grow someone a new piece of bone and it would fit exactly and be compatible with the body without fuss. Even thinking of all that is possible with this new branch of medicine is intoxicating. I wanted to do so much good for the world but once I began thinking I couldn't stop and that is why I am who I am today. I took it too far.

Part Two

I spent most of my free time at John's Hopkins in the lab. Professor Waldon had taken a special interest in me after I came up to him at the lecture and we ended up talking for hours. He said that I was the brightest student with the most hope for a future in the innovation of human tissue engineering he had ever seen. So he offered me a private lab a little ways off campus to begin experimentation. I felt like I was on top of the world.

I began attending fewer and fewer of my non science related classes and ended up dropping them all together. I put my complete focus on my research and trials. Spending a weekly average of forty nine hours a week in the lab had began to take its toll on my body. Dark circles were a constant fixture on my face but I was the most happy I had been since the death of my mother. In those months I had perfected growing skin in little glass dishes. Each day when I checked on them and saw their success my heart soared. I moved to bigger more complex pieces like bone. Soon enough I had mastered that but I did not share my revolutionary findings with anyone. I kept them hidden away because an idea had rooted itself inside my brain and it wouldn't leave. I wanted to create an entire lab made person.

By the time spring term ended and most of the students went home for the summer I was ready to begin the process of creating my man. I had successful made all the organs, bones, and tissues that I would need to make this person and I had been storing them in a giant deep freezer. On the night of June 22nd I began to assemble my man.

I worked for days straight taking no rest and only breaks to eat a little something or drink some coffee. I grew weary near the end but I wasn't going to stop until it was finished. About a week later of endless work he was complete but not yet living. I still had to make is heart start and brain function. I will not tell you how I did this because as you can see this knowledge ruined my life and I will never let that happen to anyone else.

On the 25th of June, I finally figured out how to make him live. That night I saw his eyes open and I was horrified. I had actually slept for a little bit that day so my conscious was clearer than it had been in weeks. I saw how utterly ugly this thing I had created looked. It's eyes were yellow and soulless . It's skin was not the natural color that I had intended but a sickly pale tone with an almost translucent quality to it. I could see every major vein and artery through it's thin tissue. But even though it's ugliness was a huge factor in why I ran and never looked back, the in human sound it made was made up my mind the second I heard it. I tore out of that lab so fast you would have thought the devil himself was chasing me. I locked the door and prayed that the beast I had formed and given life to was stupid enough to stay in there and die.


End file.
